Legal IndustryRSS

  • April 1, 2010

    Linklaters Restores UK Associate Pay Raise Levels

    Linklaters LLP has announced plans to reinstate normal pay raise levels for associates in the U.K., where pay increases were reduced in the recession, as well as retain lockstep compensation for associates in both the U.K. and the U.S.

  • April 1, 2010

    Lateral Movement Still Increasing, But At Slower Pace

    Lateral movement in the legal industry in March increased, but the pace slowed compared to the movement seen in the previous month. The largest single move came from K&L Gates LLP, which plucked six partners and five counsel from Hogan & Hartson LLP's Warsaw, Poland, office.

  • April 1, 2010

    Firms Boost Efforts To Turn Lawyers Into Leaders

    Leadership, once seen as a soft skill to be cultivated over time, has become a crucial part of a legal skill set that can — and should — be taught early in a lawyer's career, professional development experts say.

  • April 1, 2010

    Ex-Locke Lord Partner Sues Over Capital Loan

    Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP is facing a lawsuit from a former nonequity partner over the interest on a loan he claims he was forced to take out as part of the October 2007 merger of Lord Bissell & Brook LLP and Locke Liddell & Sapp LLP.

  • March 31, 2010

    Sidley School Sex Abuse Probe Privileged: 7th Circ.

    Sidley Austin LLP's internal probe for a client, an Illinois school district, into an elementary school teacher's alleged molestation of students is shielded by attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine, a federal appeals court has ruled.

  • March 31, 2010

    Relief In Sight As Associate Start Dates Take Shape

    After a year plagued by record-setting cuts and uncertain futures, many law firms are committing to definite 2010 start dates for first-year associates, a sign that the legal industry may finally be pulling itself up by its bootstraps, experts say.

  • March 31, 2010

    States Can't Bar Federal Class Actions: High Court

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday held that state laws barring class actions cannot be used to throw class actions out of federal court, reversing a lower court's opinion that restricted a Maryland orthopedic group from pursuing such an action against Allstate Insurance Co.

  • March 30, 2010

    Morgan Lewis Unfreezes, Raises Associate Pay Rates

    Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP has unfrozen associate salary levels and announced it will offer raises to its young lawyers, moves that come after the firm revealed a shift toward a merit-based model of associate compensation earlier this year.

  • March 30, 2010

    Plaintiff-Side Work For BigLaw Can Bring Profit, Pain

    Facing increasing competition and a sludgy economy, corporate law firms may want to copy McKool Smith PC's moneymaking strategy of taking on work for plaintiffs, but experts say crossing over comes with risks as well as rewards.

  • March 30, 2010

    Q&A With FMC Technologies GC Jeffrey Carr

    Change and do it now. Learn to focus on delivery of value by reducing your costs to remain profitable as opposed to leveraging the pyramid and focusing only on top-line revenue growth, says Jeffrey W. Carr, vice president, general counsel and secretary at FMC Technologies Inc.

  • March 30, 2010

    Cablevision Names Cable Veteran As Associate GC

    Cablevision Systems Corp. announced on Tuesday that it had appointed Todd Brecher, a former assistant chief counsel at Time Warner Cable Inc. and former Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP associate, to serve as its associate general counsel and senior vice president of business affairs.

  • March 30, 2010

    Coyness Now Could Spell Lateral Doom Later

    While many law firms have no problem spending wads of cash on wooing hotshot lateral talent, the reluctance to discuss whether the move would be a good cultural fit can lead to disastrous results post-hire, legal experts say.

  • March 30, 2010

    Atty Censured For Lying To DuPont About Firm Diversity

    Well-known Denver attorney Willie Shepherd has been publicly censured for misrepresenting his former firm Kamlet Shepherd & Reichert LLP's diversity in order to become eligible for DuPont Co.'s diverse legal supplier program.

  • March 29, 2010

    Rankings May Stifle Law Schools' Innovation: Educators

    By focusing on purely academic measures like Law School Admission Test scores and grades, U.S. News & World Report's annual law school rankings may discourage law schools from pursuing innovative programs focusing on real world skills, according to some educators.

  • March 26, 2010

    Ruden McClosky Partners Leave To Start New Firm

    The Miami office of Florida powerhouse Ruden McClosky will reportedly shed four partners at the end of March, further whittling down the firm after a round of layoffs in the past month.

  • March 26, 2010

    Lawyers Mostly Happy Despite Challenges: Report

    While the legal industry is undergoing a philosophical shift toward better efficiency and a focus on client service, most lawyers are happy with their jobs and confident in the future of their industry, according to a new report.

  • March 26, 2010

    Orrick White Collar Specialist Tapped For US Attorney

    President Barack Obama has nominated Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP partner Melinda Haag, a specialist in white collar crime, to serve as the top federal prosecutor for Northern California.

  • March 26, 2010

    Obama Taps Ariz. District Judge For 9th Circ.

    President Barack Obama has nominated Judge Mary H. Murguia of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona to sit on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

  • March 25, 2010

    Paul Hastings Atlanta Associates Get Stiffed

    All Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP associates earned merit-based bonuses in 2009 in line with the model set by Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP, all, that is, except for those based out of Atlanta, a firm spokesman confirmed Thursday.

  • March 25, 2010

    Akin Gump Buys Democratic Lobby Boutique

    Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is planning to purchase Parven Pomper Strategies Inc., a fast-growing Democratic lobbying shop, to add to its already sizable presence on Capitol Hill.